


Plop

by spikesgirl58



Series: the poetry challenge [9]
Category: Sapphire and Steel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 09:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30137589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikesgirl58/pseuds/spikesgirl58
Summary: What is the sound of one frog swimming?
Series: the poetry challenge [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2171559
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Plop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [threecee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/threecee/gifts).



It was a day that was lost on most people, so gentle, so sweet and yet so familiar that it went by without notice. The spring day was unfolding, inviting the renewal of heart and soul. Frogs and birds filled the air with their songs. The breeze was but a caress on her face and she turned it to the sun.

It was a puzzlement to Sapphire why people allowed themselves to become so wound up in trivial matters that they didn’t see the masterpiece unfolding in front of them.

“Really? Humans never see anything.” Steel’s tone was dry. “I never pegged you as a hopeless romantic.”

Sapphire was used to her partner’s cynicism, although it seemed to be worse as of late. He was hiding something and she wasn’t sure what.

“Or you are just being paranoid.” He stopped by the pond and stared out over it. At his approach, the frogs paused in their courtships. “I am not hiding anything from you, Sapphire.”

She sighed, “Yes, Steel. Why are we here?”

“There is a break in the Corridor of Time. They believe it to be here. An entire town’s worth of people have disappeared without a trace. They had to go somewhere, except they didn’t. All paths lead here.” Steel stopped, then asked, “Are you listening to me, Sapphire?”

The woman wandered a few feet away, staring dreamily at the pool of water. Her approach frightened something and it leapt into the water to escape. Its entrance was so fast that it didn’t even leave a ripple behind.

_The old pond_   
_a frog jumps in-_   
_Plop!_

Steel blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“It’s a haiku, Steel. Matsuo Basho wrote it in 1686. It was said that he created the poem without seeing the pond, in short creating a scenario in which a world of silence is broken by a single sound.”

“A haiku?”

“A poem made up of seventeen syllables in three lines of five then seven and finally, five again. It’s supposed to reflect the natural world. And before you argue with me, it’s a haiku in its native tongue, not this language.”

The frogs started to sing again and Steel frowned, his brow crinkling in thought. “No, it’s not that. It was something else…” Steel walked slowly towards her and the frogs again fell silent. “Noise.”

“It’s not noise. It’s Nature.”

“Sapphire, you aren’t listening.” Steel walked to the water’s edge and several amphibians made good their escape, noiselessly into the water. “What did you hear?”

She made a face. “Nothing, Steel. I heard nothing.”

“Exactly. No ‘plop’ heard.” He looked at the pool. “I will let Them know.” 

“Know what, Steel. I don’t understand.” Sapphire’s voice was exasperated now and Steel reached out to take her hand. He looked deeply into her eyes and then smiled, just slightly.

“Even when you aren’t trying, you succeed. When does water not react like water?”

“When it’s not.”

“The surface looks right, but because it is an anomaly, it can’t produce the right noise. The creatures go in and are sucked into a void, soundless and dark.” He tugged her away from the edge.

She tried to pull free, but Steel held her firmly, finally scooping her off her feet and carrying her away. He set her down and she collapsed to the ground. “I was… I was thinking how nice it would be to go swimming. How cool and inviting the water looked. If you hadn’t been here…”

“It’s a good thing I have a natural aversion to water.” He sat down beside her and stroked her cheek. “And I’m not keeping anything from you, Sapphire. Perhaps everyone else in the universe, but never you.”

“Thank you, Steel.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I thought that, perhaps… you had grown tired… that you wanted another partner…”

“Never. I’m afraid you are quite stuck with me.”

“Makes me happy,” she murmured, leaning against him for support.

The anomaly needed to be reported, the mystery now unraveled, but for the moment, the two agents just sat in the grass, listening to the sounds of Nature. Steel would deal with it, but right now, the world could take care of itself. He had something more important to him to handle.


End file.
